


Lay Out Your Burdens

by JenNova



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen, POV Female Character, what if
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-31
Updated: 2012-08-31
Packaged: 2017-11-13 07:16:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/500884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenNova/pseuds/JenNova
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A possible introduction of the Maximoff Twins to the Avengers. (For Avengers Reverse Bang 2012)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lay Out Your Burdens

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, gosh, this story. I had a lot of fun trying to build a characterisation for Wanda and Pietro that I thought fit in line with the MCU. I tried to figure out how to do that without mentioning mutants (because, fun fact, they can't do that if they ever include them in the films because: Fox) but it was impossible given the nature of the characters.
> 
> I've peppered in some references to some of my favourite Marvel things along with at least one sequence of dialogue borrowed for delicious irony from another Marvel film. (If there's anything you'd like explained just drop a comment and I'll be happy to oblige.)
> 
> Beta by my good friend H, any remaining mistakes are my own. It was inspired by [this fantastic art](http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/194/c/8/movie_verse_wanda_and_pietro_by_jbadgr-d573lp8.jpg) by jbadgr. (It is also late because internet and unwellness and stuff. Ugh.)

Doctor Samson's hair is green. Wanda understands it has something to do with gamma radiation, or at least that's what Bruce told her when she asked. It makes him look eccentric, draws the attention, and she thinks he probably considers it a tactic. A distraction technique.

Wanda can feel Samson watching her as she evaluates the room; his credentials set out evenly on the wall behind his desk, the couch and chairs, the desk itself tidy and uncluttered. There's a potted plant by the window, bright green in the clear sunlight, that looks well cared for. She notices that the couch and chairs are set in such a fashion that neither Samson or his patient will have their back to the door.

She takes the chair opposite Samson, eschewing the couch, and crosses her legs. Samson has a pad set on the arm of his chair with a pen lying crossways over it. His eyes stay on her with nothing more than cool, professional interest. It's not a look she's used to. They sit in silence for five minutes.

Samson is the one who breaks it.

“Tell me about the Avengers Initiative,” he says, folding his hands together and tilting his head.

“You know what it is,” Wanda waves a hand dismissively.

“I do,” Samson nods. “But I'd like to hear about it from your point of view.”

“Have you met Tony Stark?” Wanda asks tilting her head in a mockery of him.

“I've had the pleasure,” Samson says, leaning back in his chair. “Why do you ask?”

“He's a real asshole, you know?” Wanda leans an elbow on the arm of the chair and rests her chin in her hand. “But our asshole.”

“Iron Man is Captain America's second on the team,” Samson says, trying to lead her somewhere. “How does that make you feel if he's an asshole?”

“He's the guy who slipped our info to Fury,” Wanda says with a gentle shrug. “At the end of the day he puts a roof over our heads. That's better than nothing.”

“How did you meet him?” Samson asks. Wanda sighs.

–

Wanda had been able to influence things in her favour since puberty hit, about the same time Pietro's ridiculous speed kicked in. She used it to get them out of the foster home when it became clear that their parents were less than enthused about their kids having powers. She used it to bring them the occasional windfall, whatever they might need to get to the next state.

By the time everyone they used to know was graduating high school they were in L.A., working bars with pool tables for money and wondering whether it was worth the trouble to look for their bio-father. Pietro had obsessed over it all their lives but Wanda found it hard to care about the man who had abandoned them. It was a cyclical argument, though, and one day she would probably give in just to get Pietro to stop talking.

At the tail end of two profitable years kicking around L.A. they met the score of their lives and landed enough money to start the journey back east again.

They were working a real dive that night, definitely in one of the less salubrious parts of L.A., Pietro sitting up at the bar looking for the next mark and Wanda racking balls and pretending to drink too much. She knew Pietro was about ready to call it a night when _he_ came in. Tony Stark. He was dressed down and drunk, a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes, but there was no mistaking the faint blue glow that filtered through his shirt when his jacket flared open.

Wanda met Pietro's eyes and he nodded, tapping on the bar to order a drink for their new friend. She wondered if it was responsible for a self-made superhero to be wandering around the city taking drinks from strangers in bars. Maybe the reformed party boy wasn't as reformed as he was pretending to be. Pietro set him up quietly and quickly, giving her a hand signal when he thought Stark was loose enough.

“Ooh,” Wanda simpered when she bumped into Stark from behind. “Who's your new friend, Pete?”

“This is Tony,” Pietro said as Stark steadied her. He even helped her perch against a stool, what a gentleman. “Tony this is my sister, Annie.”

“Hi, Annie,” Tony greeted her with a grin she was familiar with from magazine covers. He smelled like the offspring of a distillery and a brewery. Wanda tried her best not to wince.

“Hi, Tony,” she said, making her voice breathy and slurring a little. “D'you wanna play pool?”

“Baby,” he said, shaking his head. “I am way too drunk to play pool.”

“Oh, Tony,” she said, leaning in and trailing a hand up his arm. “Would you leave a girl to play by herself?”

Wanda didn't push too hard because she was pretty sure he had something going on with the pretty P.A that sometimes showed up in paparazzi photos. His eyes flicked down to her hand, watching the way her fingers curled into the material of his shirt. He wet his lips with a flick of his tongue.

“I am a gentleman,” Stark said, drawing himself up, speaking precisely. “I couldn't forgive myself for ignoring a lady in distress.”

He slid off the stool and staggered slightly. Wanda waited for him to get his feet certain under him before leading him by the elbow to the pool table. Stark made a great show of selecting the right cue from the battered selection on the wall while Pietro leaned into her side.

“I hear he carries a lot of cash,” Pietro said quietly, lips barely moving. “We do this right and we can finally move on from this city.”

“You're twins, aren't you?” Stark asked, looking at them with eyes that were a bit too calculating for a man as apparently drunk as he was. “I've always liked twins – though normally I prefer the two girls kind for obvious reasons. Not that you're not plenty pretty, Pete, I just don't swing that way. In public.”

Pietro rolled his eyes and stepped away from Wanda. As usual when someone made that sort of suggestion she could feel his distaste. He hated it when people assumed things about them simply because they were twins.

“You gonna break?” Wanda asked, leaning across the table to pick up the cue she'd laid down before speaking to Stark.

“Ladies first,” Stark said, executing a little bow.

“Oh, you really are a gentleman, aren't you?” Wanda said, smiling at him coyly. He magazine-grinned back as she bent over the table to break.

They ran it like usual; setting up a bet on the second game and building a losing streak until the reward was as high as it would go. Pietro kept Stark plied with plenty of drinks, making sure he never had an empty glass. Even if she wasn't throwing each game Stark would have been difficult to play, even drunk his engineer's brain was good at reading the table and playing the right shot. Luckily she had an ace up her sleeve.

Wanda pressed herself up against Stark before the last game and patted a hex against his ass, laughing as he flinched away from her touch. She made sure to stumble as she moved away from him, making it look like nothing more than a drunk come on, and bent low over the table to break again. In the end she had to pull things in her favour – Stark was good enough that her hex only barely knocked him off his game. Stark laughed when she won, clearing nearly five grand off the table, and smiled something closer to a real smile.

“I'm pretty sure you two just sharked me,” he said as Pietro took the money from her and speed-counted it behind her back. “But I don't care because you did it so fucking well.”

“Don't know what you're talking about,” Wanda said, throwing in a little stagger for good measure. “I'm just lucky, I guess.”

“Sure,” Stark said, still chuckling a little. “Let's put it like that. Hey, this has been fun, I'm not going to, whatever, call the cops on you or anything. I needed fun. If I remember you when I'm sober I'm _totally_ going to put you on the list.”

“The list,” Pietro repeated, folding the money and tucking it into his jacket.

“Uh-huh,” Stark said, pressing his hands against the edge of the table. “The list. Of people I like having fun with. Pretty sure I can find you again if I want to. You're pretty distinctive. Or! If you ever needs jobs or something – Stark Industries could always use a couple more sharks.”

“Kind offer,” Wanda said, unable to stop herself from smiling with him. “But we do okay.”

“Sure, hey, whatever, the offer's there,” Stark said, tugging a phone from his pocket. “If I remember. Bet old Pete's speed there would come in handy – Hey, Happy, I'm, oh I don't know, L.A. somewhere. Have JARVIS trace to phone and come pick me up, I've got no money left – and whatever it was that burned my ass has got to be pretty interesting too. There was no way I should've played that badly in that last game.”

“You didn't play that badly,” Pietro said, sniffing.

“I don't think you're very drunk, Mr Stark,” Wanda said, putting her cue away and leaning a hip against the wall. Stark grinned.

“That makes two of us,” Stark said, hopping up to sit on the edge of the table. “People like to talk to drunk billionaires, it's a good way to stay on the edge of things. Call me Tony, by the way, Mr Stark was my verbal cliché after all. I mean it about the jobs. You fit right in with my execs.”

“We're going back east,” Pietro said, one of his hands coming out to touch the small of Wanda's back.

“Like Stark Industries isn't a global company,” Tony made a 'pfft' sound. “But it's your lives, after all, you gotta do what you gotta do. Whatever superhuman stuff you've got going on is clearly working for you. If you get tired just walk into Stark New York, there'll be something there for you.”

“Why would you do that?” Pietro asked, his suspicious tone making him sound haughty. Wanda rolled her eyes at him.

“Well, _Pete_ ,” Tony drew out the name in a way that made it obvious he knew it was an alias. “It could just be because your sister is very pretty – but I don't think my girl, Jesus I'm speaking like him now, would appreciate that reason. It's probably because I know a bunch of people who do weird shit and I like knowing they're all in one place in case saving the world needs to happen. SHIELD will come after you eventually, you know, if you keep this up.”

They'd heard about SHIELD from a few marks who'd turned out to be similar to them, people with abilities outside the usual spectrum, and heard that they were government and not to be trusted. Neither of them liked the idea of working for the government, something didn't sit right in them over it, and apparently, unless you were a billionaire, SHIELD didn't tolerate refusal.

It wasn't the SHIELD that people heard about in the press.

“Well, it's been fun,” Tony clapped his hands together and pushed down from the table. “But I better go outside before my driver shows up to drag me out. I do not need more 'Iron Man in drunken binge' headlines waking me up in the morning. Keep safe, kids, I'm guessing I'll be seeing you around.”

“He's shorter than I thought he'd be,” Wanda said when Tony was gone. Pietro didn't respond. “What?”

“I don't trust him,” Pietro said, shaking his head. Wanda sighed.

“It doesn't matter,” Wanda said, taking Pietro's hands in hers. “Even if he tells SHIELD, there's nothing they can throw at us that I can't hex, that you can't out run.”

“It doesn't feel right,” Pietro shook her hands off. “He shouldn't have been able to trick us.”

“Of course he should,” Wanda said with a short laugh. “He's the biggest con man in the world. You know the expression: takes one to know one.”

Pietro's frown stayed in place, his brows low and heavy and his mouth twisted. Wanda moved closer and pulled him into a hug.

“Come on, Pietro,” she said, rubbing her hands up his back. “Let's go back to New York, to Westchester, maybe we can find something. We have the money to start now.”

“Why do I have to feeling you're humouring me as a distraction?” Pietro asked, pulling back to look at her skeptically.

“Because I am,” Wanda said with a half smile. “Is it working?”

“A little,” Pietro said. “New York then.”

“New York,” Wanda nodded. She reached out for a couple of the drinks they'd abandoned earlier and handed one to Pietro. They clinked glasses to seal the deal.

–

“So Mr Stark did betray your trust, by telling Director Fury?” Samson asks, making a note on his pad. Wanda uncrosses her legs and folds them up onto the chair.

“There was no trust to betray,” Wanda says, twirling a strand of her hair around a finger. “Pietro was right but so was I – SHIELD didn't catch us until we wanted them to.”

“What made you change your minds?” Samson asks, settling in his chair again.

“A variety of things,” Wanda says. “Not limited to, but including, Pietro's obsession with our father. He became convinced that SHIELD would be able to find information we couldn't.”

“Speaking of that,” Samson says, tilting his head again. “Why Westchester?”

“One of the few things we knew at the time was that our father had spent some time in Westchester,” Wanda shrugs. “Pietro thought we may have been born there. He scoured records all over the county for any notices of orphaned twins or unusual births.”

“He found nothing?”

“He found a lot of unusual things,” Wanda says, thinking of the mansion. “But none of them had anything to do with us.”

“So you went to SHIELD,” Samson says. It's irritating because she knows he knows all of this already, everything she's telling him is in their files. The things he wants to know, the things that aren't in the files, aren't hers to tell.

“We did,” Wanda stifles a laugh. “Walked right into their front in New York City and told them Tony Stark sent us.”

“That took courage,” Samson notes and Wanda doesn't bother hiding the laugh this time.

“It wasn't courage,” she says, smiling. “It was hubris.”

“They took you in,” Samson says. “Trained you. Did they ask you to join the Initiative or did you volunteer?”

“They made us back-up,” Wanda says, shrugging. “Second string at best. They didn't trust us because they knew we didn't really trust them. We kept to ourselves with the exception of Tony on his visits to the helicarrier. I think Fury would've avoid putting us in the field for a long time.”

“And then?” Samson prods and she sighs.

“My powers changed.”

–

Doctor Strange was a tall man with white streaked her and a disturbing penchant for wearing an _actual_ cape. Tony had taken one look at him and starting laughing so hard that Captain Rogers seemed to appear out nowhere to drag him away. (Wanda had seen, though, the way even Rogers couldn't hide a grin.) Strange seemed utterly unaware of the effect he was having, busy muttering to himself and his aide, and Wanda couldn't help staring.

After a long moment Strange sat down opposite her in the conference room and pinned her with steely eyes. Maybe he was aware of his effect because his stern face was quite unnerving.

“Director Fury says you turned some of your team mates into goats,” Strange said. There was no upturn in intonation to suggest it was a question but Wanda nodded anyway.

“One minute they were bickering – the next they were goats,” she said, offering a shrug and hand gesture. Strange narrowed his eyes.

“What spell did you use?” he asked, steepling his fingers in front of him. “Transmogrification, of course, but applied -”

“Sorry, did you say spell?” Wanda interrupted. “I didn't use a spell. It just happened.”

“Just happened,” Strange repeated. “Magic doesn't 'just happen', Miss Maximoff.”

“It does when I do it,” Wanda shrugged again.

“No – you don't understand,” Strange said, shaking his head. “It literally doesn't. There is always a spell of some kind needed to access the energy. Of course in the case of the Asgardian magic it seems to be much more about the manipulation of energy – but I assume silent spells are used.”

“Well, regardless,” Wanda said, spreading her hands against the table. “That's what _happened_. I thought they were behaving like goats and they became goats.”

“Impossible,” Strange shook his head once more. “That isn't magic.”

“Didn't the Director send you the video?” Wanda asked. “Because it looked and felt a lot like magic to me.”

“I watched it,” Strange said. “But I must admit that there were no signs of any true magic being used. No – I think what you did was something far removed from magic.”

“What then?” Wanda shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Magic had seemed a perfect explanation, for all that it seemed outlandish.

“I don't know,” Strange said honestly. “Perhaps you could demonstrate?”

Wanda did what she could – turning a chair into a stool and back again, using a hex to light a small fire, turning Strange's aide into cat and back. Strange's face became more and more drawn as she demonstrated more things and she thought she'd like to see how far she could push him. She tried flying, something she'd been experimenting with in her quarters, and Fury arrived at the same time as she was bumping against the ceiling.

“I'm not going to want to know why this is happening, am I?” Fury asked, rubbing his forehead with a hand. “Doctor Strange – have you made any progress?”

“Director – this is something far beyond my abilities to understand,” Strange said, watching Wanda as she lowered herself to the floor again. “I've read your file, Miss Maximoff, you began to be able to do this as a teenager?”

“At the same time as my brother got very fast,” Wanda acknowledged. Strange's face did something complicated she couldn't understand as he turned towards Fury.

“I have heard of people, as I'm sure you have, that can do extraordinary things from puberty,” Strange said. “People who can make fire or ice with their hands, or bend metal, or read minds.”

“The CIA had a program in the sixties,” Fury said slowly. “I heard it blew itself up around the Cuban Missile Crisis. What does that have to do with this?”

“If these people exist,” Strange said, turning back to Wanda. “And they can do the things people believe they can – it's conceivable that they could have even stronger powers. Perhaps even the ability to manipulate reality itself.”

“That's not – I'm not doing that,” Wanda said, standing and shaking her head.

“Do you have a better suggestion?” Strange asked, raising an eyebrow. “I watched you do several things that should've taken tremendous magical energy and yet I felt nothing at all. You simply told the chair to be a stool and it became one.”

“Can you do anything?” Fury asked Strange, turning away from Wanda. “I can't have my field agents turning into animals just because Agent Maximoff decides she prefers them that way.”

“Despite the difference in energies -” Strange paused, looking at Wanda for a long moment. “I do believe there is enough similarity between what we do that I could teach Miss Maximoff the discipline to do it at her command.”

Fury's eye focused back on Wanda and she could feel the calculations he was making. Her ability made her stronger than anyone SHIELD had in its employ, even the Avengers, and that made her both a tremendous resource and terrible danger. She wished Pietro was there, at her side, she needed the support of his presence – but he was on the ground, running drills with an Advanced Weaponry team.

Pietro also understood her fear. He had known her powers were growing for almost a year now, had seen her lose control on more than a few occasions, he understood that she was beginning to fear herself. They couldn't entrust that knowledge to anyone else – could only rely on each other – but they'd always known her control would slip in public eventually. She needed that control, needed to ensure Fury didn't think she was a threat.

“If Doctor Strange will teach me,” she found herself saying, proud that you could hear no fear in her voice. “I will gladly learn. I can't be useful if I have no control.”

“Very well,” Strange said, nodding as if a deal had been struck. “I will meet you biweekly. In the meantime, Director, I suggest you investigate Miss Maximoff's family – there may be a genetic cue here that we are missing.”

“That's already in progress,” Fury said and Wanda's eyes widened. “If we find anything I'll send someone down to tell you.”

“Thank you, Director,” Strange said. “I will see you on Friday, Miss Maximoff.”

Wanda nodded absently but her attention was only focused on Fury. He hadn't told her or Pietro that he had someone researching their family. Pietro had always assumed that SHIELD already knew everything about them, that they'd need to prove themselves to Fury before he would allow them to see the information.

When Strange had left the room Wanda approached Fury slowly, not missing the way one of his hands moved to his waist, just over his thigh holster. It made her insides cold.

“Were you going to tell us that you're investigating our past, sir?” Wanda asked, curling her hands into fists to stop herself from doing something. “Or were you going to bury us with the rest of your evils if you found something you didn't like?”

“I don't like your tone, Wanda,” Fury said, turning to face her fully.

“I don't like being kept in the dark,” Wanda countered, pressing her fists against her hips. “My brother will see this as an act of mistrust.”

“Wanda – you came to us,” Fury said, his gaze steelier than Strange's had been. “On the word of Tony Stark. Since you've been here you've avoided integrating with your fellow agents, been aloof and superior, and refused to take your training seriously. You were grifters and thieves when we took you in – why should _we_ trust _you_?”

“One of the members of your first team turns into a giant rage monster when provoked,” Wanda said, snapping. “One is a turned spy. Another is Tony Stark. One of them was brainwashed when Loki attacked the planet. And the only honest one was frozen for over seventy years.”

“And yet they've still given me more reasons to trust them than you and your brother ever have,” Fury shook his head. “Make an effort to work with us, Wanda, and _earn_ my trust. Dismissed.”

Fuming silently Wanda left the conference room, heading for the quarters she shared with Pietro. Fury's paranoia was rumoured to rival Pietro's but Fury didn't cover his up with arrogance – he did it by being terrifyingly competent and, in Tony's words, 'a bit of a badass'. They desperately needed his trust if they were going to find out anything about their father, and who the other people like them might be.

–

“How did you earn the Director's trust?” Samson asks. “You obviously have it – you've participated in several Initiative operations.”

“Doom,” Wanda says, smiling to herself. “He attempted to infiltrate the UN and have himself declared Supreme World Leader, or something similar. I was on the ground, training with Strange, when the attack began. The Avengers were too scattered to get there in time so Fury called me in.”

“You defeated Doctor von Doom?” Samson asks and Wanda thinks there might be a hint of the man being impressed in his tone.

“It's hardly difficult to defeat Doom,” Wanda says, waving a hand airily. “It's a matter of doing it without Doom causing tremendous collateral damage.”

“Your new abilities helped.”

“My new abilities were the key,” Wanda corrects. “My hexes got through that ridiculous armour he wears where a variety of weapons failed. He couldn't be arrested, of course, because laughably enough diplomatic immunity applies to him. It was satisfying nonetheless.”

“You like being a hero,” Samson says, again not bothering to make a question. Wanda nods slowly. “But you fear your power.”

“Can you begin to understand, even a little, what it's like to be able to what I can do?” Wanda asks, shifting her legs off the chair to cross them again. “How much control I need to exert to make sure I don't unconsciously alter the world to suit my purposes?”

“They've grown that much?”

–

“Strange says that he thinks my potential power is limitless,” Wanda said quietly. Pietro just looked at her, his hands flexing as if he wanted to reach out.

It wasn't the time for that, though. They were sitting in a SHIELD quinjet, much smaller than the one Tony had commissioned for the Avengers, waiting for a go signal. The were running back-up to the Initiative for the first time and Wanda was covering her nerves with deep breaths. They were both tuned into the general comms so they would hear if Captain America called them in.

“Is it helping, the training?” Pietro asked, skipping over asking about her fears. He knew them intimately and knew that she was worried almost constantly.

“It is,” Wanda nodded. “As much as it can. Now I understand how Doctor Banner must feel.”

As if on cue a tremendous roar cut across the comms, signalling the Hulk's entrance into the fray. Some kind robots, Wanda thought, she hadn't really paid attention during the briefing. The Hulk would like robots, plenty of things to smash and no guilty conscience for Banner in the aftermath. The fight was long and drawn out, long enough that Pietro tugged his phone out of his uniform pocket and started playing a game with Tony.

(Iron Man not being available was the reason they were serving as back-up – Tony was in Europe at some sort of energy conference.)

“ _This is ridiculous, Cap_ ,” Barton said over the comms. “ _I'm on my third quiver and these things keep coming_.”

“ _There must be something replicating them_ ,” Rogers said. “ _Thor can you see anything?_ ”

“ _Nay, Captain_ ,” Thor said, always a little too loud for the comms. “ _There seems to be no pattern to their movements_.”

“ _I think I have something_ ,” Romanov said. “ _Hawkeye, can you get eyes on the building at the corner of 73rd and Lex?_ ”

“ _Give me a ride, big guy?_ ” Barton asked. It was followed by an overwhelming sound of wind against his mic.

“ _Satisfactory?_ ”

“ _Yeah, this'll do. I'm guessing you're talking about the building with the endless stream of robots coming out of it, Widow?_ ”

“ _I only saw it briefly as I passed – but I'm guessing that's our source._ ”

“ _Okay. Widow, meet me at Hawkeye's position. Hulk, you're on ground level clean up. Thor, I think there's a few of those airborne guys still around – take care of them_ ,” Captain Rogers' orders were followed by a round of affirmatives.

“ _Jeez, I never thought I'd see the day I wished Iron Man was here,_ ” Rogers muttered, loud enough to be picked up the comms. Wanda tapped hers on.

“My brother and I could help, Captain,” she said, itching to do something. Pietro looked up with interest.

“ _That's okay, Scarlet Witch, I think we've got it under control. Stand by_ ,” Rogers said. Their pilot snorted and Wanda looked up at her.

“They've got it nowhere near under control,” Agent Carter said, shaking her head from where she was monitoring the battle. “The energy signature that's coming off that building is ridiculous.”

Wanda looked at Pietro, biting her lip. She raised an eyebrow and he shrugged. She tapped her fingers on her knee.

“Move us into a better support position, Carter,” Wanda said. Carter gave her a knowing look. “Just trying to anticipate.”

“Sure,” Carter said, swinging around to the controls. There was a smirk tugging at one side of her mouth.

It was while they were in the air that the sudden storm blew up. Winds buffeted the quinjet and Carter wrestled with the controls.

“That's not an ordinary storm,” Pietro said, leaning over to look out the cockpit glass.

“ _Hey, Thor, we expecting any of your family?_ ” Hawkeye asked.

“ _We are not_ ,” Thor's replied was almost drowned out by a loud crash. Wanda looked up at one of the screens and saw that the last of the airborne units had disappered.

“ _Just what we need_ ,” Rogers sounded weary for the briefest of moments. “ _Go and see what it is, Thor. Agent Carter – I know you're coming in behind us, and we'll talk about that later, but divert to back Thor up_.”

“Yes, sir,” Carter said, checking for the co-ordinates and turning the quinjet toward them.

“Pietro, can you -” Wanda gestured at the communications screen and Pietro nodded, leaning over to activate a frequency just for them and Thor. “Thor – do you have any idea who it could be?”

“ _It is unscheduled transport_ ,” Thor said, his tone thoughtful. “ _Though I do not know how he has escaped this time, I believe it will be my brother_.”

“Hey,” Pietro said, eyes brightening. “Maybe if we catch him he'll be able to tell us something about your powers.”

“It couldn't hurt,” Wanda said, a little thrill going up her spine. “If Fury lets me talk to him.”

“If we get to him first – that won't be a problem,” Pietro said, spreading his hands. “It's better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission.”

Agent Carter snorted again and shot a look over her shoulder at them. Wanda liked Carter because she took no bullshit and was as good a fighter as any Initiative member was. She was also an excellent pilot and caused enough trouble for Fury that she was permanently assigned to ferrying them around. Carter nodded at Wanda and Wanda smiled back.

“Right,” Wanda said, nodding to Pietro. “Let's give Thor some back-up.”

The mystery-Asgardian-that-is-probably-Loki was touching down in Central Park – which was probably proof enough that it _was_ Loki, Wanda had heard he liked to make an entrance. The great column of Bifrost was hammering into the ground as Carter slid the quinjet sideways over the park, lowering as much as she could.

“Can't risk getting closer than this,” she said, flipping the switch for the bay door control. “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Wanda said, following Pietro to the door.

“Are you ready for this?” Pietro asked, the words breathless and ringing with excitement.

“Let's find out,” Wanda returned, stepping out onto nothing. She'd figured out flying about a month ago but this was her first opportunity to try it in the field. Pietro vibrated up to half speed and zipped past her, aiming for the ground.

He skidded to halt when he landed, shielding his eyes and looking up to point past her. Wanda turned her head and saw Thor coming in hard and fast. The Bifrost was dissipating, which meant probably-Loki was on the ground, so Wanda gathered her power to her and flew. Pietro matched her pace on the ground.

There was a crash ahead of them, presumably Thor meeting his brother, and Wanda touched a hand to her ear.

“Thor, do you need us?” she asked, pushing a little harder to make the air around her move. There was no reply.

Wanda realised suddenly that she could feel something at the edges of herself – an ever-changing flow of energy, pushing and pulling at the world around her. It felt different to when she manipulated things and the air tasted tinny. It could only be Loki. It was like magical GPS, she realised, because she could feel him moving away from her, toward the edge of the park. She adjusted for it and felt rather than saw Pietro moving to match her again.

She tracked them into a building that was being renovated – recognised it as one that the Avengers had accidentally destroyed during the Fin Fang Foom incident – and joined Pietro on the ground.

“Thor?” Pietro tried. No reply.

“Well, he could be in trouble,” Wanda said, spreading her arms wide and turning her hands palm up as if weighing the odds. “Schroedinger’s Thor.”

The general comms chatter told her that the Captain and Barton and Romanov were still engaged with the endless robot army.

“ _Guys – is just me or do these robots smell a lot like broccoli?_ ” Barton asked. Pietro shot her a wide-eyed look.

“Best not to ask, I think,” Wanda said, shrugging.

“They do sound busy,” Pietro nodded. He flashed a grin at her. “I'll run recon.”

He was gone almost before the sentence had finished, blurring into the building. It left Wanda to move slower, feeling her way toward Loki's magic, listening for the sounds of a fight. She heard them eventually but they were fighting with words and not physical weapons.

“You promised to obey our father, brother,” Thor was saying as she came around a corner to find them in a room stacked with crates. She saw Pietro drift through the room, so fast he was nothing but a green blur behind Loki.

“I was bored,” Loki said. “And there's something interesting happening on Midgard – someone has developed extraordinary power.”

“So you activate the Bifrost without permission?” Thor thundered (Wanda snorted at her own pun). “You know we cannot use it often.”

“It is more recovered than our father would have you believe,” Loki said dismissively, leaning nonchalantly against a crate. “He still doesn't tell you everything you need to know.”

“Loki,” Thor said, his voice a warning. He tightened his grip on the handle of Mjolnir.

“Oh, for God's sake,” Wanda said, waving a hand. Twin popping noises followed the gesture and she frowned at the familiar red of a hex circling her hand.

“Oops,” Pietro said, looking down at the ferrets that were sitting in place of Thor and Loki. “Fury's not going to like that.”

“ _Fury's not going to like what?_ ” Fury barked over the comms. Pietro grinned and propped himself against a crate, pulling his phone out again. Wanda made a face at him.

“ _Wanda_ ,” Fury said, and she could hear him grinding his teeth. “ _What the hell just happened in there?_ ”

“My most sincere apologies, Fury,” Wanda said, pulling on her most formal voice. “But Pietro and I were not terribly fond of 'standing by' -”

“ _Please tell me you did not turn them into goats_ ,” Fury heaved a palpable sigh over the comms. “ _Again_.”

“Not exactly,” Wanda said, watching the ferrets sniff at each other.

“ - the hell did Stark just draw?” Pietro muttered to himself in the background.

“ _Turn them back, Scarlet Witch_ ,” Fury said after a moment.

“Just as soon as I'm certain which is which,” Wanda said. She figured the paler ferret, sniffing around Mjolnir, was probably Thor and willed him back to human form. First time lucky.

“A marvellous spell, Scarlet Witch!” Thor said, beaming at her. “Though perhaps next time target only my brother?”

Thor bent and picked Loki up, pulling his cloak around under his arm and securely wrapping the ferret up. It was not a happy ferret. Thor picked Mjolnir up with his free hand and swung it loosely as he left the building. Wanda and Pietro fell in behind him, Pietro pausing in his game to radio their position to Carter.

“Did you do it on purpose?” Pietro whispered, covering his comms.

“Not entirely,” Wanda said. She was not feeling as casual as her words suggested.

“ _Director Fury_ ,” Rogers' voice came over the general comms. “ _We've dealt with the source of the robots. Hulk is catching the few that escaped._ ”

“ _I'll dispatch clean-up._ ”

“ _Director_ ,” Barton's voice sounded hesitant. “ _Have you heard of the Beyond Corporation?_ ”

“ _Oh for fu-_ ” Fury cut himself off momentarily. “ _You're sure about that, Hawkeye?_ ”

“ _It's all over everything in this room, sir_ ,” Romanov said as Carter's quinjet manoeuvred in place above them. Fury did swear that time and Pietro laughed.

“ _\- get me Rambeau. Captain America, I want you and your team to stay on the ground until I get there_ ,” Fury sounded more furious than usual. “ _Thor, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver – I'm trusting you to escort Loki to the helicarrier._ ”

“A simple task easily done,” Thor said, climbing into the quinjet. Wanda and Pietro followed.

“ _Fury out_.”

“Pretty impressive for your first mission, Agent Maximoff,” Carter nodded towards Thor before pushing the quinjet onto the trajectory that would take them up to the helicarrier. “Wish you'd been around the first time that guy showed up.”

“You should speak with my brother if you get a chance, Agent Maximoff,” Thor said, seating himself and absently petting Loki's head. “He is a liar but he has always been fascinated by magic – he may understand what your Midgardian magicians cannot.”

“I'll keep that in mind,” Wanda said, settling beside Pietro. Pietro nudged her and held his phone up. There was an expertly rendered picture of Iron Man wearing a chef's hat on the screen. “Iron Chef, Pietro.”

“Tony's ridiculous,” Pietro said, putting the guess in. It was right, of course. “He draws himself for every word.”

“That's because he's a narcissist,” Wanda said, smiling. “I did okay, didn't I?”

“You turned two gods into ferrets,” Pietro said, slinging an arm around her shoulder and squeezing. “That's more than okay.”

Thor smiled at her, and he'd be the only person in all the realms, she suspected, that would be happy about being turned into an animal. It felt good to have finally accomplished something.

–

“Did Loki help?” Samson asks, underlining something on his pad.

“He was here for me,” Wanda says. “I don't know how much help him trying to kidnap me was – but I did learn some things.”

“How many operations have you and your brother completed with the Initiative now?” Samson asks.

“You already know the answer to that,” Wanda says, shifting restlessly.

“Ten successful operations,” Samson nods. “Why don't you tell me about the most recent one?”

“Ultron,” Wanda says, looking down at her hands.

–

“ _Tell me again why you're friends with Hank Pym, Iron Man_ ,” Clint said, diving out of the way of an energy blast that would've taken his head off.

“ _Because he's one of the few people who can keep up with my brilliant mind_ ,” Tony said, buzzing over head and firing multiple repulsor blasts at the robot, Ultron.

“Do none of you ever stop to think 'should I do this?'” Clint asked, sliding into place behind the same over-turned taxi as Wanda. He paused to flash her a smile, eyes crinkling around the corners, as Tony launched into a familiar rant about the art of scientific discovery. Wanda liked Clint a lot, especially the sarcasm he enjoyed peppering every operation with.

“ _Iron Man. **Tony** , focus_,” Steve interrupted before Tony could build up too much steam. “ _Have you got any idea how we can take this thing down?_ ”

Multiple ricochets rang out as Natasha fired from the opposite of Ultron. Clint winced as one pinged a little too close to their taxi.

“Watch it, Widow,” Clint said, shifting to peer over the taxi. “I don't need more holes than I've already got.

“ _Well, Cap, considering Hank decided it was a brilliant idea to build a psychotic adamantium coated robot that can fire lasers – no, I have no idea what we can do to stop it._ ”

There was a flash of red light as Steve deflected a beam with his shield, driving it back at Ultron. It didn't even knock the robot back.

“ _I thought vibranium could damage adamnatium_ ,” Steve said as Pietro darted past, drawing fire away from Steve so he could move. “ _My shield bounced right off it_.”

“ _Yeah, it would be a great weapon if my Dad had had access to some of the Antarctic anit-metal stuff when he made your shield. He only had Wakandan vibranium. So no dice, Cap._ ”

Steve appeared around the taxi and knelt beside Wanda.

“You up for giving this a go?” he asked, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. “You're all we've got left.”

“I can try,” Wanda said, feeling the power that coiled all too easily under her hands. She didn't like the way it made her feel and Steve was the only one that knew. Hexes were fine but the manipulation, the changes, they were becoming too simple for her.

“You're sure?” Steve asked, holding her eyes. She'd never gotten used to the blue of his eyes, the earnest tone in his voice. She straightened her back against the taxi.

“I'm sure,” she said, nodding. Steve nodded back.

“ _Yeah, Annie, you got this_ ,” Tony made another pass, distracting Ultron as Steve and Wanda stepped out from behind the taxi. Wanda smiled at the name.

Ultron turned back to face them and fired a laser beam that Steve caught on his shield, directing it up and away from them. Wanda could see Pietro hiding behind a truck on the other side of the road, waiting to pull them from danger if he was needed. She flexed her hands and raised them, flicking a series of hexes at Ultron. It reacted fast, dodging all but one, and that was enough to tell her this would work. The one that hit made sparks flash from Ultron's arm.

“ _Yeah!_ ” came over the comms from Tony. “ _Looks like adamantium can't stand up to whatever it is that you do so well. That arm's shorted out._ ”

Ultron focused on her and she could almost feel it calculating. It fired the laser again and once again Steve caught and turned it away. She used the distraction to spray more hexes, in a loose pattern. This time she caught one of it's legs and it staggered, the ongoing laser beam arcing through the sky. It fell backward as she fired more and more hexes, moving forward without the protection of Steve's shield, pouring them into the body of the robot. It jerked under the combined hits, frantically trying to evade them, and Wanda smiled. Power rushed through her, making her feel invincible. Then Ultron saw Pietro. The laser fired up faster than Wanda could blink.

“No!” Steve's shout was followed by his shield but there was no way it would get there in time.

“No,” Wanda said quietly and everything stopped. She waved a hand and the beam of light disappeared.

“No,” she snarled, reaching her hands out in front of her before parting them violently. Ultron sheered in half as time started again, sparks flying as she told reality she wanted it destroyed.

The power settled deep within her, coiling around the base of her spine. It almost felt like it had been waiting for that moment, a chance to show her what she could really do. She felt elated and terrified all at once. She looked at Ultron and it disintegrated.

“ _Hank is going to be pissed about that. But maybe he'll learn from it – you know, don't build a robot out of the most indestructible metal on earth. That sort of thing._ ”

No-one laughed but Tony. Wanda felt like everyone was staring. They talked to her, and each other, but they were subdued and she knew why.

She was dangerous. Just like Fury had suspected.

–

“So why do you think you're here?” Samson asks as she finishes. There's a pit in her stomach.

“Because Fury is afraid I'm going to destroy the world,” she says. “He's a pessimist.”

“Why do you think he feels that way?” Samson asks and, ah, this is why she's here. This is why over a month has passed since Ultron.

“Because they found our father,” she says, leaning back in her chair and tilting her head to look at the ceiling. “He was a terrorist.”

“Erik Lensherr,” Samson confirms. “You spoke with one of his friends, didn't you?”

“Xavier,” Wanda nods. “Turned out he was in Westchester all along. We knew there was something strange about that mansion.”

“Why do you think he chose to hide himself from you?” Samson asks. “I understand he has a policy of taking – mutants, all mutants – in if they need him.”

“I think he was afraid of us,” Wanda says. “Of who we would remind him of.”

“What did he tell you about your father?” Samson asks and Wanda looks at him. “I assure you – nothing you say will go past this office. I know you didn't tell the Director everything. You're too secretive.”

“He told us that the government believes Erik's dead,” she says, quiet. “That they believe he died before we were born. He told us that was wrong.”

“Do you want to find him?” Samson asks, holding her eyes. She picks idly at the arm of the chair before answering.

“Pietro does,” Wanda says slowly. “I don't think I do. I don't think I need to know why he abandoned us. I think Xavier believes Erik did it for our safety – but I also get the impression that no matter what my father has done, Xavier believes he has always been a good man underneath.”

“You don't agree.”

“If he's done even half the things attributed to him – I don't see how he can be a good man.”

“And you worry, in the end, that he's passed that onto you.”

“I -” Wanda ducks her head. “I could tear apart this room if I wanted. I could make it so you never existed. I could heal Xavier's legs. I think I could raise the dead. And there's a part of me that wants to do all of those things.”

“But you don't do them,” Samson says. “You control your impulses. That's the important thing.”

“But what if one day I can't,” Wanda says. “What if Fury is right?”

“I don't think he is,” Samson shakes his head. “I don't believe that – evil, for want of a better word, is genetic. I want to help you.”

“How?” Wanda asks and she hears her voice break slightly, the strain of the afternoon exerting itself at last.

“I'm a psychiatrist, Wanda,” Samson says with a smile. “How do you think I can help?”

Wanda looks at him for a long moment. She realises that she feels better than she has in weeks. That the very act of speaking has already shut away some of the impulses that have been crawling under her skin since she destroyed Ultron.

“I'm not going to tell you that it'll be easy,” Samson says. “I can't even begin to imagine how it must feel to have that much power. But I can promise that I won't stop helping you, no matter what.”

“Thank you,” Wanda says, smiling at him.

“That's the end of the session,” Samson says. “I'm going to recommend you stay on field duty because I think giving you nothing to do would be the worst possible reaction. Besides – the Avengers need you.”

Wanda leaves with an appointment for two weeks time and a light step. She can feel the whole world around her, hers alone to change and bend to her will, but for now the voice telling her to do so is quiet. Not gone. But quiet.


End file.
